


One About Kittens

by a3rie



Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: Gen, shameless fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:13:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27098650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a3rie/pseuds/a3rie
Summary: Complete self-indulgence.I just needed to write myself cuddling the heck out of Archie and then a little mini-fic happened in the process.
Comments: 13
Kudos: 33





	One About Kittens

Archie paused at the sound of crying. 

The soft, scared pleas for help stopped him mid stride and his ears swiveled at the sound. Hisirdoux was expecting him, he knew, but his friend would just have to wait. He could not, in good conscience, keep walking and ignore the crying. 

Without a second thought, the dragon-cat turned and left the sidewalk, heading into the side alley where the sounds of distress were coming from. 

“What on-- who would dare!” His fur stood on end in fury as he found a wriggling bag beside a dumpster. 

Using teeth and claws he tore at the sack until its contents spilled into the alleyway with him. He was rewarded with three small kittens. Two of the rescued litter immediately scrambled under the dumpster beside them while the third pawed at him, wanting food or possibly comfort. 

“There there,” Archie cooed, giving a quick lick to the little calico before bending down to look under the dumpster at the remaining two. They had wedged themselves to the farthest end of the underside and were eyeing him warily. 

He cleared his throat and tried for the most authentic meow he could muster. Even if he preferred living as a cat most of the time, it unfortunately did not grant him any understanding of their language. He had mastered most of the body language over the ages and was quite adept at communicating with adult felines but meowing was a kitten language.

The gap between the dumpster and the ground was too narrow for him to crawl under, but he pressed his muzzle as close as he could and tried to sound reassuring. 

The kittens were having none of it.

He sighed and sat back, his tail flicking in agitation. He could always revert to his true form and simply move the dumpster, but he was sure that that would only frighten the kittens further and if he knew one thing, it was that a scared cat was fast. There might not be a way to catch them if they darted for it… and they were dangerously close to a road. 

The kitten who had decided she wasn’t afraid of him continued to paw at and rub against him. If only he could find a way for her to convince her siblings that he wasn’t a threat and that they should come out. 

He twitched his whiskers in thought, “But THEN what? What am I to do with kittens?”

“Mra-aaw!”

The calico was demanding his attention. He booped her nose. 

“Maybe I should go and get Douxie…”

“Oh my goodness I thought I heard a kitten!” 

Archie turned quickly and saw an unfamiliar young woman slowly ease into the alley. He watched as she adjusted her bag across her hip and carefully crouched down, “Hey babies,” she said in a soft voice much higher pitched than the one she had spoken in before. 

“Oh no, she’s so cute daddy cat! But where’s mama? This baby is far too little.” 

Was she addressing him? Should he meow? Should he leave now that the kittens had a human who looked like she wanted to help them?

The woman held out her hand, presumably for them to sniff. For appearances sake, he leaned forward and gave her fingers a polite bump with his nose. The calico was already halfway up her leg, tiny claws finding purchase in the dark denim of her jeans. 

“Aw, babies, I don’t have any food on me. Come here little little! Oh my goodness.”

Archie looked at the human then back at the dumpster. He couldn’t leave now, she wouldn’t know about the other two. He gave his best meow to regain her attention then pressed his belly to the pavement, looking under the rusted metal bin and swiping his paws beneath it. 

Thankfully, the woman seemed to take his hint and leaned down to look. She pulled her phone out and used the flashlight feature to see what it was he was trying to show her. Two sets of little eyes reflected back at them. 

“Oh good gracious. Little babies. They’re not going to budge anytime soon.” 

Archie startled when she rubbed behind his ears without warning. In a reassuring tone, as if she were talking to another human, she said, “Don’t worry daddy, we’ll coax them out.”

She frowned for a moment, then nodded to herself. She stood back up and with the hand not occupied by kitten, she dusted herself off. With a smile she told him, “I’ll be right back. Well, not RIGHT right back but hopefully just a few minutes. Don’t run off!”

“Hm. This is a turn I was not expecting this evening to take,” Archie muttered to himself after the woman had left. He looked back at the kittens, still stubbornly watching him with their backs to the wall. He could leave, he supposed. The woman would be back and she could take care of things without him. But, she had asked him to stay. It felt rude to just walk off. 

He looked around in surprise, suddenly aware of the quiet. The woman had taken the calico with her. He looked back at her siblings again and sighed, deciding he would wait and make sure that these two didn’t end up forgotten about.

True to her word, only a few minutes had passed before the woman returned. She reached into her bag and pulled out several pouches of food and treats. The calico in her arms was already smacking her lips in post dinner contentment as the woman set to work opening her gifts. 

An hour later and Archie found himself riding in the woman’s satchel, protectively curled around the two wayward kittens and guarding them from the books and bits of paper they shared their transportation with. The bag smelled of gum and perfume but it wasn’t uncomfortable. What was uncomfortable was that he hadn’t had the heart to run off yet and had been coaxed into her bag right along with the kittens. 

He’d leave as soon as she was properly distracted. 

“Okay, here we are!”

Archie wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but a small hotel room was nowhere on his list of guesses. He hopped out of her satchel the minute she sat it on the bed. He watched as she dumped a laundry basket’s worth of clothes onto the floor and then refill the basket with thin white strips of paper. 

“No point in a litter box, but I got some pee-pee-pads,” she said as she picked up one of the kittens and placed them into the laundry basket. She patted its head before moving to the next, cooing under her breath. 

Then she picked him up, cuddling him to her chest with a sigh, “You’ve been so good! I’m thinking someone might be looking for you. Not sure if you're a daddy cat or if you just found yourself some babies because you smell too nice and are clearly socialized to be a stray.” 

As if to prove her point, she buried her nose into the crown of his head and gave him a little smooch before pulling back. “Yep, you smell like herbs. And paper. Are you a bookstore kitty? You smell like old books and I’m loving it. I’ve been told I’m weird for being a book sniffer, but those who do the same just KNOW, you know?”

While she was rambling to him she was scrolling through her phone. He looked down and saw a list of local shelters. Good.

He shifted, trying to get more comfortable, and also trying to decide if he wanted to be put down or not. He could admit it was nice to be doted on, even if he felt awkward about it. 

“Wouldn’t it figure that all these places are closed for the evening? I’ll call around tomorrow.” 

She sat down on the floor by the kittens, reaching in and giving them each several pets. “Sweet little beans. They’ll be adopted in no time.”

Then she turned her attention back to him and she found a spot under his chin that felt amazing and he went limp, forgetting himself and giving a little sigh.

“Hm… I’m getting a bit hungry. Think pizza sounds good?”

It was clearly meant as a rhetorical question but he wasn’t thinking at full capacity and answered, “Yes.”

“Ah!”

The woman shot to her feet, dropping him to the floor in the process. Before he could even turn around she had jumped up onto the bed and had armed herself with a pillow. 

“You can talk!”

Archie froze, not sure if he could pull it off like she had imagined it. Cats made weird noises all the time, right?

“Meow?”

“Nope! Nope. That straight up just sounds like a man saying meow. What the heck!”

His ears flattened and he looked from side to side before sighing again. Well. She did save the kittens and was planning to find them a place to go. Maybe this wouldn’t turn out terribly? Stranger things had happened-- he had been living in Arcadia Oaks for years now, after all. 

“Alright, yes, I can talk.”

She plopped down on the mattress as if she were a puppet who had its strings cut. Her mouth opened and closed a few times as if she were looking for what she wanted to say. At least she hadn’t thrown the pillow at him yet. 

“Yes! I knew it!” 

He blinked in confusion as she pumped her fist in the air several times in excitement.

“You knew that I could talk?”

“No! I mean, I knew magic existed! I KNEW IT! Validation, baby!” 

She was practically vibrating with excitement. 

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, are you really a cat? What’s your name? Are there more creatures like you around?”

“Well, I’m actually a dragon, and--”

“Oh my gosh! What really? That’s- I mean, like, a big dragon? Smaug? Or, oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” 

She pulled the pillow to her mouth to bite it in an effort to contain her enthusiasm. 

Archie chuckled. Well, it wasn’t going terribly so far. 

“Not exactly big yet, no. I’m still growing. And yes, there're more creatures of magic besides myself in the world. My name is Archibald.”

“Nice! My name-- er-- I mean, you may call me Eri.” 

He laughed at her mid-sentence switch, “I’m not a name stealing faerie, but I congratulate you on your caution.” 

Their conversation came to a sudden halt as movement from the foot of the bed distracted them. A series of disgruntled squeaky meows and they watched the laundry basket fall over as two of the kittens tried to climb out. 

“Aw, jailbreak!” Eri laughed as she climbed back down to the floor and righted the basket, cooing and scolding the kittens to be more careful. 

“So are these little guys yours?”

“No, they are 100% normal kittens. I simply found them. Can you believe some monster left them in a tied bag?”

Eri made a face of disgust and shook her head, “Sadly, I can. Poor babies. I’m glad you were there to get them out, then.” 

He wasn’t expecting it when she rubbed his ears along with one of the kitten’s. 

“Will you be sticking around? Do you eat pizza? I don’t want to keep you but I so want to keep you. For just a little bit! You’ve clearly got things to do, places to be. But I’ve just got so many questions! And if you saved some kittens you can’t be evil or anything.”

“Well, actually, I do have someone I’m supposed to be meeting,” at her look of understanding disappointment he amended, “but I do believe they can stand to wait a little longer. I like olives and extra cheese.”

“Heck to the yes! Olives and mushrooms!” 

“No thank you to the mushrooms, that’s Douxie’s thing.”

“Who’s that?”

OoOoOoO

Archie was three hours late. 

Douxie finally gave in and cast a locating spell. A bright blue line sipped from the band on his wrist and led out into the city. He followed the light of the spell, wondering where he would finally end up. 

He blinked in confusion at the hotel at the end of his trail. What could Archie have gotten himself into? It was usually Archie getting _him_ out of strange situations, it was kind of nice to be on the other end of a rescue.

He knocked on the numbered door, flexing his arms, bracing himself for anything. 

A young woman answered and she smiled at him excitedly, “Oh! Are you Douxie?”

“Huh?”

“Your familiar is picky and I had to order half-and-half but there’s still a slice of olive and mushroom if you’d like?”

“Uuuuh… well, I’ve clearly missed something. But. Sure. Why the heck not. I never turn down free food.”

The woman thrust her hand out to him to shake, “My name is Eri, by the way. Come meet the kittens! I’ll explain everything when the movie is over.”

He looked over her shoulder into the room to see an open laptop on the room’s bed and Archie sitting behind the screen licking his paw clean of what might have been sauce or might have been dirt. 

“What are we watching?”

“Strange Magic.”

“Like the song?”

“Exactly like the song!”

“It’s a musical,” Archie added from his spot on the bed.

“Well, I do love music.”

“Oh, it’s great. Also, your dragon friend has assured me it isn’t a thing but I’m just putting out there that you are _so_ not going to be erasing my memories of tonight or anything. I know how to keep secrets and also I don’t even live here! So you don’t need to worry.”

“Um, yeah, memory magic isn’t really my thing but thanks for your discretion. So, uh, about that pizza?”

Eri laughed and pulled him into the room, shutting the door behind them.

“Mind your step! The kittens escaped the basket so many times I’ve stopped trying to corral them and they’re just under foot.”

Douxie shook his head and laughed at the absurdity of the situation. 

He gave Archie a shrug and smiled, plopping down beside his friend on the bed. He was nothing if not flexible. 

“So you’re a father now?”

“They aren’t mine.”

“You sure? This one has your eyes.”

“Oh be quiet. Let me finish this movie before you start in on your nonsense.”

Before Douxie could reply a paper plate landed in his lap. He looked up at their host and her excited grin. 

A little at a loss for what to say he merely smiled and said,“Thanks.”

“No, thank you! Tonight has been so awesome. Very happy to meet you. I’ve got Dr. Pepper and I have water, if you’d like.”

“Water, please.”

“I’m pushing play now. I need to know how this ends. I wish real faeries had been like these ones.”

“Oh, it’s about faeries?”

“You guys knew faeries!?”

“Shh! We agreed to take a break from 101 Questions.”

“Your kitty is very bossy,” Eri said in a faux whisper as she climbed back onto the bed, pulling Archie into her lap without any hesitation. 

Douxie chuckled as he watched his friend get situated and petted on, “Oh, you have no idea.” 

The wizard winked at his familiar and tweaked his tail before reaching over the side of the bed and picking up his own ball of fur. He looked at the little calico as the movie started back up. It was an adorable kitten, maybe Archie could get used to the idea of parenthood and they’d adopt one after all. 

His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar guitar chord. 

He nuzzled the kitten’s baby soft fur as he settled back to watch the movie, “Oh I love this song.”

“Same.”


End file.
